Sicily gems?

Hi all

This fall I am thinking of taking my family to Sicily for a week, and would love to hear everything about that little gem caf

I would PM MikeR in case he misses this thread. I have not been to Sicily- but I will. Please remember to post a long report upon your return.

Karibien.....Taormina is not all that touristy compared to other touristy towns in other countries...and you know how I feel about that sort of thing so if I like it...it cant be that bad..LOL...and I love Taormina...lots of great little places ot eat off the beaten path...ride the cable car from the beach up into town....it is a gem of a town...and nearby is Mt Etna which must be seen and hiked...you are going during the height of the chestnut harvest....I was there for that one year and it was great....so fresh and tasty.....the temples of Agregento must be seen....the town of Alcamo ( which is my namesake ) is a beautiful fishing village which also has a Norman castle ...Catantia is a great place to see..wonderful fountains and marble work...Syracuse is terrific..the Messina Straits in Reggio Di Calabria is wonderful.....I have been to Ragusa and Modica and you are correct about the baroque architecture but I think Catania has more of it then anywhere else and Catania also has the Ursino Castle which you should see as well.....English is not spoken all that much as you get away from Palermo...I know my information is dated since we have not returned since 9/11......but really not much changes in Sicly....I thought I was close to restarting the annual trip over routine and was going to take my Mom for her 80th, but she is getting cold feet about it....those damn religous zealot fundamentalists!!!


enjoy..it is a wonderful country...simplistic... incredible natural beauty.....a step back in time......food so good like you will never taste ( St Barts included )

Thanks MikeR,
well, if you love Taormina it can't be bad
I've been trying to find Alcamo on the map, but can't find it. Where should I look? - edit - found it, far west so it seems we will miss out on it if we decide to skip the western half.

Any thoughts on the subject of driving and chosing roads/route? Condition? Traffic?

I figured English was not common. And since I don't have time to learn Italian (let alone Sicilian), we will have to smile a lot and put our trust in the locals. I am not overly worried about the communication issue, I figure we will get whereever we are going by asking and pointing at a map

I appriciate any and all input!

/K

You can get a small dictionary with the basics. If you are going to be asking directions you need to learn the word
"Dove"- pronounced "dovay"-- it means "where is". And after that "Grazie" (gratsee)- thank you. You will be fine. There is always someone who speaks English in any small town especially restaurants.

Karibien...Alcamo is on the north coast just a little west of Palermo
there really is only one main road which basically does a loop around the island...and traffic is not bad at all..almost non existent outside of Palermo and the other smaller towns

Thanks for your help. Next I'll be off to the library and browse the guide books, check up on a firm arranging vacation rentals, make sure I'll get time off from work, and then it's booking time...

In the mean time, if anyone remembers any gems to visit, please let me know

/K

Hi Karibien,

I second MikeR's suggestion that you include Agrigento. The Valley of the Temples is a "must." We also enjoyed Segesta and Selinute. We wandered through many small towns and at times encountered people who spoke no English at all. We were armed with only basic Italian greetings/words/phrases and a pocket sized Italian/English dictionary and we were fine. The food is truly amazing.

Now there, reservations have been made!

I found a decent 3 star hotel near Piazza Duomo in the city center Hotel Savona wich I hope will be perfect for the first and last night of the trip.

Also decided to make Siracuse our main base, five nights in a 2-room apartment at Aretusa Vacanzes, making daytrips to Etna, Taormina etc.

Just as I booked the Alitalia-flights, I was treated a should-have-been-a-four-hour-flight-got-there-36-hours-later-story... I do hope that was some very rare course of events

Anyway, won't let that mar my delight of having this birtday-trip to look forward to

Will let you know how it all plays out

/K